


Center Stage

by scb17



Category: Dancing with the Stars (US) RPF, Figure Skating RPF, Olympics RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-16
Updated: 2014-04-29
Packaged: 2018-01-19 14:13:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1472761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scb17/pseuds/scb17
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Meryl and Charlie through their journey on Dancing With The Stars.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Bring It On

**Author's Note:**

> So I decided to write an actual story, since I didn't think this would fit well with my first work, since that one is one-shots. Tell me what you think about this one! It'll probably be updated every week or a few times a week, so I can use that week's DWTS episode.

“Okay, okay!” Charlie whispered, holding his arms up. He had a worried look in his face, and he was aware that Meryl was eyeing him curiously from the other side of the room, where she was stretching.

            “I’m sorry, man, it’s for the show,” Eric, one of the producers on _Dancing with the Stars_ , told him.

“Yeah, I get it, but it’s gonna get me in trouble.”

            Eric shook his head and held his arms up, as if to say, “My hands are tied”, before walking away.

 

Charlie took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair. “What was that about?” Meryl asked curiously as she sauntered over to him.

            Charlie jumped. “Uh, nothing. Just production going over some things for my dance.”

Meryl smirked. “What, you're really going to keep up this secrecy act? Charlie, we shared everything growing up, and _now_ you decided to keep something to yourself.”

            Thankfully for Charlie, Maks appeared in the doorway. “Princess, it’s dancing time,” he called.

“I’m not done with you,” Meryl warned, holding her finger to Charlie’s face before she gracefully skipped into her rehearsal room.

            “You know, you can always tell production you and Tanith are done,” Sharna said, appearing at his side.

“Yeah, tell the world one relationship is over and another one started all in one sentence. That'll work great,” he scoffed sarcastically.

            “Would you rather Meryl kill you for that dedication they cooked up?”

“Even if I did the dedication I truly wanted to do, Meryl would still kill me. She's not ready to tell everyone.”

            “Suit yourself,” Sharna said, backing up to where the stereo was set up. “But right now, I need your focus on the dance. Do you think you can do that for a few more hours?” Charlie nodded, unsure.

 

Throughout practice, Sharna was constantly correcting Charlie and bringing him back to focus, while was constantly apologizing and tripping over his feet. They were dancing a jive. He loved jives. They were dancing to “Happy”. It was one of his favorite songs. His most memorable years were 2010 and 2014, where Meryl contributed to a large part of that happiness he got from those years. So why couldn’t he dedicate his dance to her? Why did he have to dedicate it to _Tanith?_

He left the studio around 8, and he noticed Meryl and Maks were still hard at work. He wondered how she was doing.

            “Princess, Princess! Are you okay? You seem distracted,” Maks said wearily, pausing their music for the umpteenth time.

Meryl shook herself out. “I’m not sure. I heard Eric talk to Charlie before, and Charlie didn’t seem very happy about it. He’s also being really secretive about his dance.”

“It’s a jive,” Maks said plainly, taking a sip of water.

            Meryl rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I know, I meant…I don’t know, maybe the dedication? Most memorable year. I wonder what he chose.”

“Whatever he chose he did a much better job at choosing than you!” he laughed. “17 years! And to a song like “All of Me”! You know that song was written for his wife, right?”

            Meryl blushed. “I know, I know, it’s just… I think I’m ready to tell the world.”

“Well, you better be completely sure by Monday, because there's not turning back.” Meryl sighed. _Why is this so difficult? Why does it feel like a bad idea?_

            She noticed Maks avoiding her gaze, and her eyes widened. Maks _never_ avoided eye contact with her. “You know something!” she exclaimed, pointing a finger at him accusingly and walking towards him in an almost threatening manner.

Maks tried to hide behind his water bottle. “No, I don’t. I know nothing.”

            Meryl scoffed. “Sharna told you.” It wasn’t a question.

Maks looked up to her for the first time that rehearsal and met her eyes with a look of pain, almost. “Do you really want to know?” Meryl nodded slowly. Maks sighed. “I _heard_ that production wants Charlie to dedicate part of it to Tanith. I’m sorry, Princess.”

“Tanith?! But they broke up! Why do they even bother with these themes if they're going to choose them for us!” Meryl was livid, and Maks was trying to avoid getting sent to the Land of Oz by the tornado that was her anger.

“It’s just a rumor floating around,” Maks tried, still avoiding being in her way, now that she was pacing around the room.

            Meryl clenched her jaw and angrily put her hands on her hips as she shook her head in disbelief, still pacing. “No. You know what? We’re still going with John Legend. We’re gonna make him regret agreeing with production. We’re gonna make him sorry.”

“Princess….are you sure?”

            Meryl looked Maks dead in the eye. “Positive. Bring it on.” Maks sighed. Nothing good would come of this, and they both knew it.

* * *

 

 

The day of the show, Meryl kept her sweater on, not wanting to reveal any part of her dance to Charlie whatsoever until she had to. They posed for the picture they would post on the Just Jared Jr. Instagram account, as they did every Monday. Meryl’s hair and makeup were done, and Charlie’s hair was…well, his hair. No one could bear to change it. It was perfect the way it was.

            “Charlie did you seriously slice corn on the cob and put it an airplane cup?” Meryl said, laughing.

Charlie took the plastic fork out of his mouth. “I don’t think corn stuck in my teeth goes well with the dance Sharna planned,” he smiled back. “So. What’s yours like?”

            Meryl avoided his eyes. “I guess you have to wait another hour to find out.”

“Aw, come on, Mer. Give me a hint?”

            Meryl gave him a devilish smile. “You're going to hate it.”

“Oh, my God, you _do_ kiss Maks, don’t you?” he asked, his distraught face turning pale.

            “What? No! Where did you hear that?”

“Derek and Val were joking about it before. I assumed Val had seen one of your rehearsals.”

            “Don’t worry, I’m not kissing him. But I’m still not telling you anything about the dance!”

Charlie groaned. “You are terrible.”

            Meryl skipped off to get ready for show time. “I know,” she called back, waving playfully.

 

“Oh, shit. Oh, shit, shit, _shit,_ ” Charlie mumbled as Meryl and Maks’ package was played. “Oh, God, I am an absolute ass.”

            “I agree,” Danica whispered from her spot next to him.

“Not helping,” Charlie muttered back, gripping the skybox railing. Danica simply shrugged and gave him a “Sorry, tough luck” look.

 

Charlie watched in anger and guilt as Meryl practically dedicated her dance to him, and danced so intimately with Maks. _Is he supposed to symbolize me or something?_ He thought.

            “Charlie. _Charlie,_ ” Sharna hissed. Charlie’s head snapped up. “You're going to break your hand. Or the railing,” she said, nodding to Charlie’s firm grip on the rail. Charlie smiled sheepishly and let go, stretching out his fingers. “And by the way, I’ll be at your funeral.”

 

By the time it was Charlie and Sharna’s turn, he had received awkward looks from almost all the dancers, a sympathetic one from Candace, and a glare from NeNe. She wasn’t too fond of him or Meryl.

            Charlie felt his heart beat and heard it through his chest as the package began playing. He was watching Meryl from the corner of his eye. She seemed hurt, very hurt, but not surprised. Before Charlie could even try to decipher it, Sharna elbowed him in the rib just as their music began. Being Charlie, he immediately put on a happy face and blew through the dance.

He felt a pang of sheer hate and anger when the camera went to Tanith, who was clapping and smiling. _Why is she here?_

 

After getting stopped in the hall backstage by many of the dancers, who congratulated and complimented him, Charlie looked around desperately for Meryl, until he saw her in the back, talking to Danica, Maks, and Val.

            “Mer!” he called.

Meryl looked up. “Oh, shit,” she mouthed, excusing herself from the small group as she took off.

            She was about to push the exit door open when Charlie grabbed her arm. “Mer.” She looked at his hand, firmly gripped around her muscle, but she refused to meet his eye. “Why didn’t you tell me? I know you knew about mine. Why didn’t you say something?”

“I don’t have time for this,” she whispered, a tear appearing in her eye. “I have to go.”

            “Mer!” he insisted again, pulling her back to him when she tried to leave and accidentally pulling her to his chest.

It took everything in her for Meryl to avoid not getting lost in the wonder that as his arms. “Charlie, stop. I can’t deal with this right now.” She pulled away, and pushed the door open. She lingered, her slender fingers wrapped around the doorframe, her sad eyes meeting his, but then ripped her eyes from his and walked away, the lilac fabric of her dress gracefully flowing behind her.

            Maks came over and wrapped and arm around Charlie’s shoulder and patted it roughly. “Good luck with that one,” he said. “Been like that all week.”

 

Charlie felt a deep knot in the pit of his stomach. Meryl knew. She’d known all week. She still kept that package. She couldn’t even face him. They _always_ fixed their problems within minutes. But this time was different. This time…there was a problem between them, and it had gone unsolved for a week. Charlie sighed. He was in deep. And it didn’t look like he’d be getting out anytime soon.

 


	2. Step Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlie tries to get Meryl to forgive him while they practice for Stars On Ice, but he has a shock in store by the time DWTS day rolls around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This takes place during the week leading up to week 4 of DWTS--the switch-up! I wanted to get this in before DWTS tomorrow...I'll do a chapter on week 5 on Tuesday, and one on Monday's episode on Wednesday. Thanks for reading!

“Mer, come on! It’s been over a week!” Charlie pleaded as he tried keeping up with Meryl, who calmly passed him in the cafeteria of the Stars on Ice rink.

            She looked him dead in the eye. “Why don’t you go to Tanith, I’m sure she’d just _love_ to talk to you. Since apparently she had a huge part in winning _our_ gold medal,” she shot back.

Charlie ran his fingers through his hair as Meryl walked away. “Yeah, maybe I will!” he called after her. He could practically feel Meryl rolling her eyes. They both knew he wouldn’t. Even he knew that comeback sucked.

            “She's still mad, huh?” Peta asked as she walked over to him.

Charlie sighed and turned to his switch-up partner. “Yeah. I mean, she held it in all week. She didn’t even tell me she knew! What was I supposed to do?”

“Why would she? Charlie, she wanted _you_ to come to _her._ ” She patted him on the back. “We have to go rhumba now.” Charlie nodded.

 

Once Peta had released him, Charlie ran to his next practice, his Rachmaninoff run-through with Meryl. Even though he knew she still loved him, she wasn’t showing it, and it made him feel alone. But during this program, she had to show she loved him, and he was going to take advantage of that.

 

* * *

            Meryl heard the sound of blades hitting the ice, and looked up from her place near the boards, only to look away again. “Oh, look, it’s Tanith’s lover boy,” she mumbled to Val, who was standing on the other side of the boards.

“You still haven’t forgiven him, huh?” Val asked.

            Meryl threw her arms up. “Why does everyone seem so surprised? It’s not that unreasonable! It’s not that hard to understand!”

“What is?” Charlie asked, skating up behind her and wrapping his arms around her torso.

            She groaned. “Why I haven’t killed you yet,” she muttered, pushing him off her and sending him flying backwards before skating away.

Charlie made his way back to the boards. “Wow. You think she’ll ever forgive me?” he asked Val.

Val’s face scrunched up. “It’s hard to say. Maybe you should have production do another dedication week.”

            “Charlie! We’re ready for you!” Andy, one of the show’s directors, called from the middle of the ice, where Meryl waited with her arms crossed. Charlie skated over.

The music began, and Meryl looked at Charlie like he was her world. Like last week had never happened. In moments where she was close enough that he could talk without disrupting the program, he would ask, “Is that a look of love? Is Meryl Davis in love?” to which she would respond, “It’s the ‘Meryl Davis is trying not to kill you so she’s pretending until break time’ look, now shut up.”

            After a couple run-throughs, Andy made them do a few practices of Scheherazade. Through all those run-throughs, Charlie tried desperately to meet her eyes, but she always avoided his gaze. At one point he stopped trying. He knew Meryl would stand firm.

 

That routine went on for the next week, until they boarded their plane for L.A. Val and Charlie had boarded first, and when Meryl and Peta came in together, laughing, Charlie eagerly patted the empty seat next to him with a smile.

            “Wha—” Meryl checked her ticket.

“Val agreed to switch,” Charlie explained, and Meryl glared at Val. Peta raised her eyebrows and slowly backed away, taking her seat next to Val.

            “Peta, switch with me?” Meryl pleaded.

“No, Meryl, you can’t keep ignoring me,” Charlie said, taking her carryon and placing it under the seat. “We need to talk about this.”

Meryl groaned. “Do we really, Charlie? Do we really? Because I think you made it _very_ clear on Monday.”

“Mer, come on, you know why I did that. Besides, you said you weren’t ready to make it public!”

            Meryl’s eyes widened and she stared at him as her jaw dropped to the floor. “You just may be the blindest person I know.”

“Oh, yeah?”

            “Yeah,” she said with a sarcastic smile, “because why do you think I used the song I did?”

Charlie’s eyes grew wide. He gasped. “You mean…”

            Meryl nodded and patted his knee. “You really blew it this time, huh?” She took her eye mask from the bag and curled up in her seat under her blanket. “Now shut up and let me sleep.”

 

Charlie stayed up the whole flight. That wasn’t the plan; he wanted to be sleeping, but that wasn’t easy and it wasn’t a choice he had at this time. _How could I have been so stupid?_ He thought, mentally kicking himself, since he couldn’t physically.

            “Wow, you look _horrible,_ ” Meryl told him the next morning, while they waited for their bags at the luggage claim. “Did you not sleep at _all_?”

Charlie rolled his eyes. “Yeah, thanks to you.”

            Meryl pretended to gasp, even putting a hand to her mouth. “ _Moi?_ But what did I do?” she asked innocently, batting her eyelashes.

“You know exactly what you did.” He grabbed Meryl’s oncoming suitcase. Meryl took it with a smug smile before skipping off. _Uh, oh, she's planning something,_ Charlie thought. _That can’t be good._

* * *

 

Monday night rolled around, and Charlie timidly approached Meryl’s trailer with a smile. He knocked, and she opened it, a stern look on her face, her lips the color of crimson, a flower in her hair. His smile dropped as he saw the fishnets peeking out from her jacket.

            “You're doing a tango.”

“It wasn’t my choice, Charlie,” she said, annoyed, as she walked into her trailer. Charlie caught the door before it closed and followed her in.

            “So if you _had_ a choice would you have chosen something else?”

Meryl rolled her eyes. “ _Why_ are you making such a big deal out of this!”

            “Because you haven’t been you around me for over a week and I miss it!”

Meryl walked up to him until she was inches away from his face. It took everything in both of them to not reach out to the other and forget all this ever happened. But Meryl was determined to keep her ground, and Charlie knew better than to push her buttons. “You hurt me, Charlie. You would rather go along with production and thank your _ex-girlfriend_ for something that _I_ helped you accomplish instead of asking me if I was ready! How can you not understand how that hurts me? How can you not understand why I don’t want to talk?” Charlie’s mouth gaped open. “That’s what I thought.” She walked towards the door. “Oh, and Charlie?” she said sweetly, turning around. Charlie looked up eagerly with pleading eyes. “You better step it up. Or I’ll take you down in more ways than one.” And she walked out. Charlie sank onto the floor and let out a heavy breath. He wasn’t sure what those ways were, but he knew it wouldn’t be fun.

 

Charlie couldn’t concentrate that much on his dance, but he was determined to not let it show. He and Peta pulled off what they thought was a flawless rhumba, but the judges seemed to disagree. When they reached the skybox, he was grateful that Sharna and James came over to congratulate them; at least _someone_ appreciated a hard week’s worth of work. He looked over to Meryl, who met his eyes with her sad ones. She moved forward to give him a hug, hesitated, then stepped back into place, looking at the ground. His heart broke into a thousand pieces. He didn’t even care about his disappointing scores.

            Charlie watched Meryl dance with awe and anger. He _hated_ tangos. He only liked them when she was dancing with him, on the ice. He knew Val wasn’t a threat; hell, _Maks_ wasn’t even a threat; he knew he had Meryl's heart all to himself. But it still made him overly jealous. In the middle he just couldn’t watch it anymore and he looked away.

* * *

As the weekly protocol called for, all the pairs were to do an interview for ABC. Charlie and Peta went first.

            “How does Meryl not get a perfect score?” he asked the interviewer, wanting to hide behind his hair before he realized it was slicked back. He blushed and looked to the ground in a nonstop fidgeting game. _Don’t blow it, you ass, don’t blow it. You already messed up enough,_ he thought.

 

When they finished their interview, he and Peta were supposed to do a Q&A with US Weekly on Twitter. They were headed to do that when Charlie pulled Peta’s arm and stopped her.

            “Charlie, we have that Q&A to do,” she reminded him.

“Uh, yeah, I know, um, I just…I want to hear Meryl’s interview. Is that alright?”

            Peta sighed and rolled her eyes. “Go, you lovesick fool, go. I’ll tell them you're in the bathroom making sure your hair won’t suffocate.”

Charlie smiled. “Thanks, Peta.” She waved it off.

 

Charlie raced back in time to hear Val say, “I would rub skin with you…”

            “Again?” Meryl interrupted, a smile on her face.

“Anytime.”

            “Oh, good!” Charlie’s heart sank. He knew it was probably for publicity, and he knew that he deserved it, but it still hurt.

Meryl and Val went back inside. They were talking, laughing. Meryl saw Charlie and her eyes widened. She rushed over to him “Oh, God, Char did you—”

Charlie tried holding back the tears as he nodded. “Yeah, Mer, I did.”

            She reached out to hold his arm. “Charlie…”

He ripped his arm away. _“Don’t.”_ He walked away to do his Q &A with Peta.

Meryl turned to Val, and he held his arms wide open. Meryl buried her face in his shoulder and cried. A week’s worth of tears; she let it all out onto Val’s read shirt.

They were both in deep now. They both wanted things to be better. To be the way they were before. But they were both afraid of ruining it even more. It was going to take more than an apology and a famous Davis and White mental conversation to fix this one. The problem was, neither of them knew how. This had never happened to them _ever_ , and now they felt lost. Lost without each other, lost without direction, lost without knowing how to go forth. No matter how much they wanted to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	3. Save The Last Dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meryl gets into an accident and as always Charlie is there to help...but is this what they needed to get back to normal?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this takes place during Week 5-Disney Week. I'll try to do Week 6 tomorrow. Enjoy!

“Charlie, come on, you know it was just for the interview! Are you _seriously_ jealous of Val right now?”

            Charlie whipped around. “No, I’m not jealous of anything. It just really fucking bothers me when my _girlfriend_ is out there rubbing skin with another guy.”

“Charlie.” He turned around reluctantly. She walked up to him and put both arms on his shoulders. “Look at me. You _know_ it’s just for the show. Don’t let it get to your head. I know we had a rough few weeks, okay? And I know we’re not totally back to normal yet. But right now we need to practice for Stars On Ice, okay? We’ll talk about this later.” Charlie nodded. Somehow, Meryl was always able to calm him down.

            “Are you still mad at me?” Charlie asked timidly.

“Oh, yes. You still mad at me?”

            “ ’Lil bit,” he admitted, holding up his two fingers to show the little bit of him that was mad.

Once they arrived at the rink, Meryl sat with the girls on the bleachers while Charlie and the guys practiced their group routine. Charlie was watching Meryl as much as she could, and he smiled when he saw her laughing, almost falling off the bench.

            “What was so funny?” he asked when he exited the ice and she prepared to go on.

“Hmm?” she raised an eyebrow. “Oh, your pants. I can’t take you seriously in them,” she laughed, turning him around to examine the whole thing before cracking up again and nearly falling over when he caught her and brought her back up. Their eyes met for a single awkward moment before she pulled away, lightly patting his ass and laughing again as she walked towards the rink entrance. “Neon yellow,” she muttered. Charlie rolled his eyes.

Charlie watched in awe as Meryl skated around in her big tutu. If he didn’t know she was a skater, he would’ve thought she was a ballerina. He was a little jealous when the girls hauled her into their lift. _That’s_ my _job,_ he internally complained, crossing his arms and frowning from his seat in the bleachers, earning snickers from the guys. He was blown away as the girls pushed the barre as Meryl clung to it.

“Stop, stop!” Charlie could her Meryl’s cry from a mile away. But the music was too loud, and no one heard her.

            “Something’s wrong,” Charlie muttered. “Something’s wrong.”

“What are you talking about?” Max asked him.

            “Something’s really wrong.” Charlie got up and ran as fast as he could to the ice, but he was too late. The music had stopped, and Meryl was on the ice, unconscious. Her tutu had gotten caught on the wheels of the barre, and she had tried to lift herself up, but her blades had disagreed. It sent the other girls flying in different directions, and the barre had wheeled around and hit Meryl on the head.

“Oh, God, oh, God. Mer? Mer!” Charlie shook her shoulders, but she remained unconscious.

* * *

A few hours later, Meryl woke up, her head drumming. “Mer!” she heard Charlie exclaim.

“W-what happened? W-where am I?”

“Shh, it’s okay. There was an accident during practice.”

            Meryl looked at him flatly. “Did you drop me?” she half-teased.

Charlie smiled. “Actually, it was your group performance. Your tutu got caught on the barre’s wheels. On the bright side, they're giving you a skating skirt instead.”

            Meryl nodded, taking it all in. “Is it just a concussion?”

Charlie pursed his lips. “You also twisted your ankle. But barely. You should be okay to skate, and Maks knows to take it easy this week.”

            “But it’s Disney week!” she wailed.

Charlie laughed. “It’s alright, when it’s over we’ll have our own Disney week dance at the hotel, how does that sound?” Meryl beamed and nodded. Charlie smiled again. “Great. Okay, I have to go. Sharna’s calling.” He made his way to the door.

            “Uh, Charlie?” he turned around. “Save the last dance for me,” she said with a smile. Charlie nodded and walked out. Both of them smiled. They knew they were okay.

* * *

During the show, Charlie kept his eyes on Meryl, making sure she was doing okay with her ankle, and on Maks, to make sure he was being cautious. On the other hand, Meryl watched Charlie’s performance with nothing but amazement and joy. They had those mental conversations as much as they could. Backstage, in the skybox, wherever their eyes met.

            After their interviews, they walked back to the hotel slowly, hand in hand. When they reached their adjoining room, Charlie twirled Meryl, and she smiled at him.

“I’m glad we’re back,” she said just as Charlie hit play on the stereo behind him.

            “Me too.” The opening notes to _Beauty and the Beast_ began playing, and he pulled her close to him and began dancing.

 

_Tale as old as time, true as it can be. Barely even friends, then somebody bends, unexpectedly. Just a little change, small, to say the least. Both a little scared, neither one prepared, Beauty and the Beast._

“What are you doing?” she laughed, playing along with his makeshift waltz.

            “I promised I’d save the last dance for you,” he replied.

“With _Beauty and the Beast_? Charlie, we both know I look more like Jasmine than Belle,” she joked. Charlie simply smiled, and she began to listen to the lyrics.

 

_Tale as old as time, tune as old as song. Bittersweet and strange, finding you can change, learning you were wrong._

She froze. The song symbolized the whirlwind week they’d had. Neither of them had been prepared when they had been mad, and it scared them, because they were never mad at each other. Throughout the week, they had barely been friends. Externally, at least. She felt a tear forming in her eye, and quickly brushed it away, firmly planting her lips against his.

            “I don’t know what I’d do without you,” he whispered.

“You'll never have to find out,” she promised, laying her head on his shoulder. They were finally where they had wanted to be for the past week, and neither of them had plans to change that. Ever.

 

 

 

 

 

 


	4. Battle Of The Year

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Week seven rolls around and Meryl has to help Charlie through his fears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided to skip week 6....I couldn't really do much with that. Anyway, this is week 7. How amazing was yesterday's episode??? This is pretty short; I hadn't updated this in a while so I wanted to add a chapter, but I couldn't do it in story form because who knows what'll happen next week!

“Charlie, don’t be nervous. I’ve seen you do trickier things on ice. Calm down.” Meryl soothingly put her hands on Charlie’s arms, but he kept breathing heavily.

            “Danica’s rib, and now Amy’s back… I just, I need to up my game, Mer. I’m not sure how I’m gonna do that. I might be eliminated.”

“Charlie, you'll be fine. Remember our little pep talk. I’m sure everyone’s gonna get a kick out of that one,” Meryl said with a smirk.

            Charlie forced a smile. “You're going down in the team dance, though, Davis, that’s for sure.”

Meryl snorted. “Okay, White, you're on.” Charlie got an uneasy feeling as one of the producers came to tell him he was up next. “Hey, if it makes you feel any better, I accidentally kicked Maks in the nuts during practice.” Charlie gave her a skeptical look. “You'll see it in the package.”

            “Great, Mer, now I’ll only be able to concentrate on how funny that is. And I’ll probably be eliminated. Thanks, Mer.” he was partially sarcastic, partially worried.

Meryl sighed. “Maks accidentally hurt my wrist.” That was all it took for Charlie to jump out of his seat.

            Sharna came over. “Charlie, you ready—” Charlie grabbed her hand and pulled her to their cue spot as they came back from commercial. “Okay then.”

* * *

 

Charlie and Sharna blew through their dance amazingly, until he felt his knee pop. He kept going. He wasn’t about to fail like this. He was a little disappointed by his scores, but he didn’t think much of it.

            He watched in awe, as usual, as Meryl danced her samba impeccably. How had he never known she could do that? He had to give Maks credit for the choreography, though, even if he was still going to kill him for hurting her in the package.

 He could have cared less about his group dance. He thought they did really well. He didn’t know how Meryl’s group did, because he was focused on only her, and where Maks placed his hands. In the brief crossing moment the two teams had, Charlie pulled her to him and whispered in her ear, “I’m not leaving you in this.” Meryl squeezed his hand in confirmation.

* * *

Charlie and Sharna stood nervously. Their names were called; they were safe. Charlie didn’t hear the crowd cheering wildly; he only focused on the one thing he cared about. He would get to continue spending time with Meryl. Sharna gently nudged him, and they went to hug James, Peta, Tony, and NeNe, who still awaited their fate.

After that, Charlie pushed through the red and blue of the dancers until he found Meryl. She wrapped her arms around him, and he heard her sigh in relief. “I’m not leaving you alone in this,” he repeated softly in her ear, squeezing her tighter. “I’m here to stay. Always.”


End file.
